First-time house renovation

TomsMom

I've just done an update on my blog showing the kitchen and the downstairs WC now they're finished, which our son did last week. He's fitting kickboards in the kitchen at the moment.

Apparently I got it wrong about the carpet fitter coming back yesterday , he's now supposed to be coming at the end of the month to do the h/s/l and second bedroom. We've ordered a bed which hopefully should be delivered this week.

Anyone got an Argos catalogue? Have a look at page 771, the Vancouver wardrobe with 4 doors (2 mirrored) or see here on their website. Anyone know where I can get something similar, preferable with oak frame, to make my fitted wardrobe? I don't want their freestanding one and I'd prefer better quality. I don't seem to be getting very far with this :rolleyes: .

lisal0u

Wow TomsMom the before and afters are brilliant! It looks amazing now, doesn't even look like the same house! I just showed everyone at work and they are very impressed!

It got me excited about ours nearly being finished too. Ill have to do some before and afters when we get the kitchen in!

Those wardrobes look very smart, I haven't started looking at wardrobes yet so cant really help with where you might be able to get them from.

jimbugalee

Wow TomsMom it all looks amazing!! I am uber jealous hehe I love the kitchen tiles, I think they work well.

Have you looked at Furniture Village or Ikea for wardrobes? Like Lisa we haven't got that far yet!

TomsMom

jimbugalee wrote: »

Have you looked at Furniture Village or Ikea for wardrobes? Like Lisa we haven't got that far yet!

No, we don't have either of those anywhere near, Ikea is about 2 hours away, no idea where the nearest FV is. I was hoping to find something online as it's so difficult to get out and about with OH in and out of hospital.

jimbugalee

Blog updated http://seatonroad.blogspot.com/ Not much renovation going on but had a good weekend!

hmmmmm TomsMom. Trying to think wherelse to get furniture. I found that eBay is sometimes quite good because businesses that wouldn't normally advertise nationally put their stock on there. You usually get some sort of discount and every internet sale is a bonus as they usually operate in their local area.

Did you know that Argos stock the same as Homebase so if you see something in the Argos catalogue you can usually go and check it out in a Homebase store.

TomsMom

jimbugalee wrote: »

Did you know that Argos stock the same as Homebase so if you see something in the Argos catalogue you can usually go and check it out in a Homebase store.

That's useful to know. Son and d-i-l have wardrobes from Argos and aren't impressed. I like the style of those I linked to, just need to find a better quality one similar.

jamtart6

The bath is in the bathroom and it fits. Yes!

TomsMom

Hi Canucklehead

Do you remember asking me about the Building Regs Compliance Certificate a couple of weeks ago?

OH has just rung Corgi bloke 1 asking him to fill in the paperwork for the guarantee for the boiler. This chap is very difficult to get hold of, you make arrangements to go round to see him and he's not there. It takes several calls to contact him on the phone. He's now saying that it's too late to send it off as it's over 28 days but OH's gone to see him anyway.

He's saying that he didn't do the full installation. Well, we could never get hold of him to come when the builders needed him and in the end the plumber in the builders team fitted the rads and did some pipework. He says it needs flushing, the builders did that a few times after the new rads had gone in and also Corgi bloke 2 did it when he came to do the pipework for the WC rad about 3 weeks ago.

OH asked him about the Compliance Certificate and he's now saying that if we want that we'll have to pay him £800 to fit the boiler instead of the mates rates he originally charged us. He also said we'd have to pay a fee of £85 which goes to Gas Safe for the registration/certificate.

I'm totally confused, he's confused OH. He's either having a bad day or for some reason doesn't want to play ball.

If we can't get the certificate off him what problems, if any, will it cause?

Canucklehead

TomsMom wrote: »

Hi Canucklehead

Do you remember asking me about the Building Regs Compliance Certificate a couple of weeks ago?

OH has just rung Corgi bloke 1 asking him to fill in the paperwork for the guarantee for the boiler. This chap is very difficult to get hold of, you make arrangements to go round to see him and he's not there. It takes several calls to contact him on the phone. He's now saying that it's too late to send it off as it's over 28 days but OH's gone to see him anyway.

He's saying that he didn't do the full installation. Well, we could never get hold of him to come when the builders needed him and in the end the plumber in the builders team fitted the rads and did some pipework. He says it needs flushing, the builders did that a few times after the new rads had gone in and also Corgi bloke 2 did it when he came to do the pipework for the WC rad about 3 weeks ago.

OH asked him about the Compliance Certificate and he's now saying that if we want that we'll have to pay him £800 to fit the boiler instead of the mates rates he originally charged us. He also said we'd have to pay a fee of £85 which goes to Gas Safe for the registration/certificate.

I'm totally confused, he's confused OH. He's either having a bad day or for some reason doesn't want to play ball.

If we can't get the certificate off him what problems, if any, will it cause?

Good morning: If CORGI # 1 fit the boiler on the wall, connected the pipework (gas and water) and the boiler was functioning then he definitely has responsibility for the installation: he should fill in the Benchmark for warranty purposes and notify the installation. You'll get no joy from CORGI as they are advising the following on their website 'Any work carried out before 1 March 2009 is no longer notifiable through our site and must be notified directly to the relevant building control.'

Your best bet is to contact Gas Safe Register, report CORGI #1 (presumably now GSR #1) and see what GSR have to say. Unfortunately what you are experiencing is common practice for the unscrupulous RGIs/cowboys out there who are undercutting the honest RGIs eg. additional charges on top of original quote for notifying, filling in the Benchmark etc. if the customer susses what should be done.:mad:

HTH

Canucklehead

HTH

Canucklehead

TomsMom

Canucklehead wrote: »

Good morning: If CORGI # 1 fit the boiler on the wall, connected the pipework (gas and water) and the boiler was functioning then he definitely has responsibility for the installation: he should fill in the Benchmark for warranty purposes and notify the installation. You'll get no joy from CORGI as they are advising the following on their website 'Any work carried out before 1 March 2009 is no longer notifiable through our site and must be notified directly to the relevant building control.'

Your best bet is to contact Gas Safe Register, report CORGI #1 (presumably now GSR #1) and see what GSR have to say. Unfortunately what you are experiencing is common practice for the unscrupulous RGIs/cowboys out there who are undercutting the honest RGIs eg. additional charges on top of original quote for notifying, filling in the Benchmark etc. if the customer susses what should be done.:mad:

HTH

Canucklehead

HTH

Canucklehead

Thanks very much CH.

This is all such a shame, Corgi bloke 1 is a friend of our son. Son passes on any work to him when it's needed at some of his tiling jobs. Corgi bloke works full time and fits these other jobs in his spare time so does them evenings/weekends or if he can get away in the day. He'll start a job but needs chasing frequently to come back. He is now renovating a house of his own so his spare time is very limited. Of course, we didn't know this when he first agreed to do our job. He's a nice bloke and he did it at mates rates 'cos we're his pal's parents. We personally can't say whether he's unscrupulous in his other dealings/undercutting other RGIs, we just don't know. But he was doing us a favour at a reduced price due to his connection with our son.

Unfortunately, it's not a good idea to make an official complaint to GSR, we live in a very small community and it would affect too many relationships and possibly make it very difficult for us to get anyone else to work for us when word got around. Small town mentality!

Our son thinks he's taken on too much and is heading for a breakdown.

OK, so he's filled in the Vaillant guarantee registration form and dated it 18th March, although he inadvertently put his own details in the Customer Details part and, of course, it's way past the 30 days to send it in! We can ring Vaillant and see if they're still willing to accept the registration.

There was no mention of filling in the Benchmark part of the installation manual and I don't think OH realised that this was needed also. He's gone back into hospital this morning so I will mention this to him when he comes out, hopefully at the weekend. In all honesty, I can't seem him wanting to go back to Corgi bloke 1 again to get this sorted as their meeting last night was a bit awkward although ended amicably. We wont, of course, be asking him to do anything else for us, especially as he let us down over the fitting of the hob.

OH said that he will contact the Building Control Officer who has been involved and see what he has to say, he thinks he might still need to come out and sign our renovation off - the builders didn't mention whether he'd made his final visit and we have no certificate or anything for that.

We do now have a more reliable contact - Corgi bloke 2 mentioned in a previous post, who is very good although twice the price as we don't get mates rates! Food for thought!

I take it then that charging us the £800 instead of the original amount, and the fee of £85 he quoted, that Corgi bloke 1 mentioned last night is not a requirement but he's either trying to put us off or will pocket it for the extra "trouble" we're putting him to?

Aside from the guarantee, we understand the Building Regs Compliance Certificate is something that would need to be included in the HIP report if we sold the property? Is there any other need for it, as we will be carried out in our boxes before this house is sold.

Thanks for your help, it's much appreciated.